Cotton is one
of the principal commercial crops. In India we have the largest area in the world - around
9 million hectares. But -we are only the third largest producer of cotton in the world.
The average yield has moved from a level of 88 kg. lint per ha. in 1950-51 to 265 kg.
lint/ha. in 1996-97. However, it is far lower than the world average of 550 kg. lint/ ha.

Cotton plays an important role in the National
economy providing large employment in the farm, marketing and processing sectors. Cotton
textiles along with other textiles also contribute about 1/3,d of the Indian exports.
However, India's share of global textile exports is only 3. 1%. To increase the country's
share of global exports, in the WTO regime of liberalized trade, the country will have to
take the challenge of competition in price and quality. Abundant supply of raw material of
Quality and at reasonable price will, therefore, be crucial.

Although, there has been significant growth in production, productivity and quality of
cotton during the last 50 years, our productivity is still below the average world
productivity of countries like Australia, China, USA and Turkey. Even productivity of our
irrigated cotton is low.

The major constraints faced by Indian cotton are
(a) Almost 65,Yo of the area under cotton is rainfed with erratic and poorly distributed
rains during the cropping season.
(b) Severe attack of insect pests and diseases.
(c) Inadequate Transfer of Technology.
(d) Paucity of adequate quantity of quality seeds and
multiplicity of varieties.
(e) Inadequate marketing facilities and infrastructure, and
(f ) Obsolete ginning and pressing machinery and unscientific ginning practices.

(i) Research :
The research on cotton conducted by ICAR
through CICR, Nagpur and its Regional Stations and various SAUs showed satisfactory
achievements on the following major aspects.

(1) Availability of -huge collection of widely germ plasm accessions in the National
Cotton Gene Bank.
(2) A well established research net work.
(3) Availability of highly trained scientific man power.
(4) All the four cultivated specifies of cotton are grown commercially
(5) Commercialization of hybrid cotton including inter and intra specific hybrids
(6) Success in R & D efforts changed the countries position in cotton map of the world
from net Importer of cotton to net exporter of cotton.
(7) Availability of huge untapped potential in the form of stress resistant G. arboreum
cotton for future varieties/ hybrids development programmes.

(ii) Development :
The scheme of Intensive Cotton Development
Programme (ICDP) was started in 1971-72 and continued upto 1998-99 till launching of
Technology Mission on Cotton in order to transfer of modern technology to the farmer's
field from Research Stations. Before inception of the scheme, the cotton area was 7.61
million ha., production was 4.76 million bales with productivity of 106 kg. lint per ha..
in 1970-71 which increased to the tune of 9.29 million ha., production of 12.18 million
bales with productivity of 223 kg. lint per ha. in 1998-99. The Centrally -Sponsored
Intensive Cotton Development Programme was implemented in 9 major States (Punjab, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & Tamil
Nadu) and 2 minor States (Uttar Pradesh and Orissa) of the country on 75:25 per cent
sharing loans between Govt. of India and State Government.

(iii) Marketing & Processing :
Generally about 3011/o of cotton is marketed by
Cotton Corporation of India and other Government marketing federations and the rest 70,Yo
by the private processors/trade. In the country, about 4000 regulated markets are
available out of which many are involved in cotton trade. The facilities provided by
regulated markets to farmers were inadequate owing to their poor infrastructure which led
to poor quality as compared to many other countries due to mixing of lint from many
varieties at the market place.

Most of the ginning and pressing units are old
and outdated. Due to this, not only quality of cotton is deteriorating but their
efficiency is also low in terms of ginning percentage.

Encouraged by the
results obtained in oilseeds by Mission Mode approach during the 1990s, it was thought
appropriate to follow a similar approach for improvement of production, productivity and
quality of cotton, bringing the entire gamut of research, development including technology
transfer, marketing and processing of cotton under one umbrella. Government of India has
thus decided to set up Technology Mission on Cotton and it was launched in February, 2000
by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

OBJECTIVES OF THE MISSION

(a) To improve the yield and quality of cotton, particularly in respect
of staple length, micronaire, strength, etc., by developing better cotton varieties and
through improved seeds and Integrated Water, Nutrient and Pest Management Technologies and
their transfer to farmers.
(b) To increase the income of the cotton growers by reducing the cost of
cultivation apart from increasing the yield per hectare by proper transfer of technology
to the growers thereby increasing the production and availability of cotton for internal
consumption and exports.
(c) To improve the quality of cotton, particularly in respect of trash, contamination,
etc., by improving the infrastructure in the market yards for cotton, by providing better
facilities for cotton marketing and reducing foreign matters, resulting in minimum
contamination in cotton.
(d) To improve cotton processing facilities by upgrading/ modernizing the existing ginning
and pressing factories, resulting in cotton processing with minimum or no contamination to
achieve better value added products like yarn, cloth, garments, made-ups, etc.

To fulfill the above objectives 4 Mini Missions are established under TMC as follows:

Mini Mission-I is with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research
(ICAR) as the nodal agency. The ICAR has made CICR, Nagpur as the nodal institution to run
MM - I.
The main objectives of MM - I is as follows :

Breeding varieties/hybrids resistance to biotic stresses, including development of
transgenics.

Development of short duration, synchronous flowering and Relatively compact varieties
amenable to machine picking.

Development of economical seed production technology using- male sterile lines.

Optimization of resource use efficiency through the development of integrated soil,
water, nutrition and weed management strategies for sustainable productivity and
production.

Evolution of eco-friendly technologies such Integrated Pesi Management, use of
bio-fertilizers and organics, etc.

Crop growth and yield modelling.

Development of suitable farm machinery for cultivation of cotton.

Fibre Quality improvement.

In view of the above objectives, 13 ICAR institutes and 13 SAUs as well
as 2 National Institutes i.e. BARC, Mumbai and NRSA, Hyderabad have been identified to the
programme of MM-1. The various programmes undertaken under MM-I are as follows:

Mini Mission II is with the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation as the Nodal Agency, has the following objectives:

To increase production and productivity of cotton.

To transfer production technology to farmers through field demonstrations and
farmers/extension workers training.

To bring more area under irrigation and efficient use of water by popularising drip and
sprinkler irrigation.

To minimize the losses to cotton crop by pests through popularising the use of delinted
seed and IPM techniques.

To promote the use of quality inputs in cotton through standard package of practices.

To achieve the said goal under MM-II of TMC, the followings strategies are being
implemented.

Transfer of Improved Technologies through

Frontline, field and IPM demonstrations.

Training of Trainers, extension personnel and farmers through States and Field level
trainings.

Visit of farmers outside the state as well as inside the state.

Increasing supply of quality delinted seeds through

Production of Breeder seed in required quantity by ICAR.

Production of Foundation and Certified seeds by States Seeds Corporations and State
Agriculture Universities.

Distribution of certified seeds of hybrid/varieties.

Establishing seed delinting plants.

Systemising efforts in IPM on various cotton pests by

Promoting the use of relatively pest tolerant varieties as also cultural, biotic and
chemical means.

Demonstration and extensive training of farmers on IPM.

Surveillance, production and supply of bio-agents, pheromone traps etc.

The above strategy is
being implemented through ICDP for which implementation cost is shared on 75:25 basis
between Government of India and State Governments for most of the components. The
component-wise details of ICDP under MM-II of TMC are given hereunder :

A. SEED

(a) Maintenance of Nucleus & Breeder seed: An assistance will be provided to
identified ICAR/SAUs institutions for maintaining genetic purity of both types of seeds on
100% funding basis.

(b) Production of breeder seeds:- To be produced by ICAR institutions and State
Agricultural Universities. For this looyo assistance will be provided on 75:25,Yo sharing
basis between GOI and State Governments. The indent for requirement of Breeder seed will
be@ placed by State Governments to Seeds Division of Ministry of Agriculture.

(c) Production of foundation/certified seeds:- The assistance for the production of
foundation/certified seeds is
being provided on 75:25 % sharing basis @ Rs.500/Qtl. B.
DEMONSTRATIONS

(1) Frontline Demonstrations (FLD) : For the FLDs on
production/protection Technology and on farm implements, assistance @ looo/o will be
provided by GOI to popularise the production/protection technology and use of farm
implements.

Production/protection technology. Under this component assistance will
be provided to ICAR/ SAUs institutions besides KVKs limited to Rs.2000/- per demonstration
of 0.4 ha.

Farm implements: Assistance for conductance of such type of FLDs will
be available to ICAR/ SAUs/State Govts./KVKs/Co-operatives to promote use of farm-
implements and mechanising the cultivation of cotton for reducing the cost of production.

(2) Field Demonstration: These will be organised in
the farmers fields to propogate various production technologies. Assistance will be
provided @ Rs.1000/ - per demonstration of 0.4 ha. to meet expenditure on the use of
critical inputs.

C. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT The main objective of this broad component is to minimize the insect pest and
diseases. The details of sub-components are as follows:

Establishment of bio-agent labs : An assistance of actual cost with
limit of Rs. 100 lakh per lab and for a smaller lab on pro-rata basis to State Governments
on 75:25 sharing basis for establishment of bio-agent labs will be provided.
The 10011/o assistance will also be provided to ICAR/ SAUs/ Cooperatives to establish new
bio-control labs/ augmentation of existing bio-agent production. -
The back ended subsidy on 50:50 sharing basis to private production units will be provided
for promoting the production of bio-agents. The subsidy will be routed through NABARD.

IPM Demonstration-cum-training: An area of 50 ha. or the whole village
will be covered under each demonstration to show the effect of the IPM approach in the
control of diseases and pests. An assistance @ Rs.85,000/- per demonstration will be
provided under the scheme.

Distribution of Pheromone traps: An assistance is available on all
kinds of pheromone traps for monitoring as well as boll-worms management. The rate of
assistance is @ 5OVo of the cost limited to Rs.500/ - per ha.

Supply of bio-agents: Subsidy is available @ 50'Yo of the cost limited
to Rs. 300/- per ha.

Surveillance of insect pests and diseases: Subsidy is available per
scout.Rs.500/- per month for 5 months only during the cotton crop season.

Supply manually operated sprayers: Subsidy is available to the farmers
@ 500/o of the cost limited to Rs; 700/- per unit.

Supply of power operated sprayers : Subsidy is available to the
farmers @ 500/o of the cost limited to Rs.1,500/- per units.

Supply of tractor mounted sprayers : An assistance @ 250/o of the cost
limited to Rs.4,000/- is available.

Project on Insecticide Resistant Management : This component has been
approved by the empowered committee to implement in the areas where resistance in insects
to pesticides has increased due to unjudicious use of pesticides. The whole expenditure on
this component will be borne by GOI and implemented by CICR, Nagpur under the supervision
of ICAR.

D. TRAININGS

Under the Scheme, State level training programmes will be organised for trainers on all
aspect of cotton production technologies. Along with the State level training, farmers
training programmes will be organised to train farmers in all the cotton growing State.
These trainings will be organised through the involvement of KVKS, State Agricultural
Departments.

Training of Farmers : An assistance @ Rs.10,000/- per camp of 50
farmers for 2 days.

Training by CIRCOT : The cost of training imparted by CIRCOT to
ginners/processors is borne by G.O.1 on looyo funding basis.

E. WATER SAVING DEVICES

Subsidy under this component is being provided to utilise the available water for
irrigating more area.

Sprinkler Sets: Assistance will be provided @ 500/o of the cost to
SC/ST/Small / Marginal and women farmers limited to Rs. 1 5000/- per ha. & 33c'/o of
the cost for the- other farmers limited to Rs.10000/- per ha. The assistance is available
only for a maximum area of 2 ha per beneficiary family.

Drip Irrigation System : The assistance is available for this device @
50(1/o of the total cost to SC/ST/Srnall/Marginal/Women Farmers and @ 33'Yo of the total
cost for other farmers with a limit of Rs.25000/- per ha. In the case of marginal farmers
assistance will be provide at the pro rata basis for 0.4 ha. keeping in view of their size
of land holding.

E CONTINGENCIES TO STATE GOVERNMENTS
Under this component
fund is provided on 75:25 sharing basis to meet expenses on Staff, Seminar, Meeting,
Workshops etc.

G. EVALUATION STUDY
Assistance is provided
to independent agency who carry out evaluation of impact of the scheme. Expenditure on
this account is born in full by GOI.

The Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India is the
nodal agency for Mini Mission - 111. 700/o of cotton produced in the country is marketed
by private trade. The remaining 300/o is marketed by the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd.
(CCI), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India,
Maharashtra State Cotton Growers' Cooperative Marketing Federation (for Maharashtra only)
and to some extent by other State Cooperative Cotton Growers'Federation Ltd.
The aim of implementation of this mission is to
develop the market infrastructure to eliminate contamination during the handling of cotton
in market yards. For this purpose the Govt. of India is providing assistance on activating
non- functional yards, improvement in yards and setting up of new yards under this
mission. 600/o of the cost of development is borne by GOI and balance by the Agriculture
Produce Marketing Committee (APMC)/State Government concerned. Govt. of India's assistance
is limited to Rs. 1.5 crores for setting up of new yards and Rs.2.5 crores for activation
of dormant market yards.

The Ministry of Textile, Govt. of India is the
nodal agency for Mini Mission - IV

At present there are 4000 ginning and
pressing factories in the country including about 400 composite units, comprising of both
roller ginning and saw ginning. Saw ginning is confined to the irrigated Northern Zone,
producing short and medium staple cotton. Roller ginning is popular in all other cotton
growing areas. Under this Mission the subsidy is being provided on modernization of
ginning and pressing factories @ 50 units per year. Preference is given to the existing
composite units. 250/o of the cost of modernization/ upgradation of ginning factory
limited to Rs.20.00 lakh is borne by Government of India and the rest by the entrepreneur.

With a view to ensuring supply of quality raw
material by the Textile Ministr to the Textile mills on sustainable basis efforts have
been made to create a general awareness against contamination and a better work culture.
Some of the steps taken are as under:

General awareness meetings are organized in cotton growing States wherein farmers,
market yard officials, G&P factory owners, traders, Agricultural Scientists,
Agriculture Extension Officers are brought on one platform to discuss ways and means to
improve the quality of cotton and reduce contamination. The Second tier awareness meetings
are also organized by the APMCs during cotton arrivals in the markets when large number of
cotton growers congregate in the markets. The State Governments/APMCs have been requested
to take up the awareness programmes in all market yards, whether or not covered under
MM-111, on a sustainable basis.

'Best Management Practices (BMP)' relating to do's and don@t's at farm level, market
yard level and G&P factories in local languages are distributed at these Awareness
Meetings and sent to all G&P factories and market yards to improve the quality of
cotton and reduce contamination.

G&P factories and market yards have been requested to display the BMP prominently at
different places in the market yards and G&P factories.

All market yards have been requested to open shops in the market yards for supply of
good quality inputs like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.

The Agriculture
Commissioner, Department of Agriculture & Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture,
Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi is the Director of Technology Mission on Cotton who reviews the
progress of implementation of all Mini Missions from time to time as and when needed.

An empowered committee
under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, Central
Secretariat, New Delhi has been constituted for overseeing the inclusion and deletion of
components/ interventions in all the four Mini Missions under TMC. The other members on
this committee are Secretary (A&C), Secretary (Expenditure), Secretary (Textile),
Secretary (DARE) & D.G. (ICAR) and Adviser (Agri.), Planning Commission and
Agriculture Commissioner, Deptt. of Agri. & Coopn., MOA,GOI is the Member Secretary
for dealing with the related matters. Apart from this, Chairman of this Committee may also
call experts and representatives of industry as and when required to discuss issues
concerning cotton industry to arrive at decisions in the meeting of the committee.